BASIC INFORMATION:
Point of Contact:
Office of General Counsel
Room 620
624 Ninth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20425
Phone: (202) 376-8351
Fax: (202) 376-1163
Electronic Address for Report:
The FY 2003 FOIA Report for the U.S.C.C.R. will be available on the Commission's website, at: www.usccr.gov
Paper Copies of Report:
Paper copies can be requested from the person/address listed above.
HOW TO MAKE THE FOIA REQUEST:
USCCR policy
Make the fullest possible disclosure of information and records to any requester, without unnecessary expenses or delay.
Requirements:
There are four basic agency requirements for making a FOIA request:
Request must be in writing (mailed correspondence, fax) and include the requester's mailing address;
The envelope and letter content must identify the request as a FOIA request;
The request must provide enough detail to allow identification of the requested records; and
The request must include agreement to pay fees chargeable under USCCR's fee schedule.
Agency Components:
Request for records of the agency should be sent to USCCR Office of General Counsel, 624 Ninth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20425. Phone: 202-376-8351, Fax: 202-376-1163.
USCCR response-time ranges:
The agency generally manages to respond to FOIA requests within three
to four weeks for records that can be found at the agency. Response
times over 20 working days are generally the result of the need to track
and retrieve documents from off-site storage at the Federal Records
Center, or need to consult among agency components.
Why some requests are not granted:
Requests for records may not be granted if the documents have been transferred to the ownership of the National Archives and Records Administration, if the requested records contain predecisional information that if released would cause harm to USCCR decision-making processes; for portions of records that contain personal and/or proprietary information; for records containing information compiled for law enforcement purposes; or if the requester asked for information specifically prohibited from disclosure by other statutes.
DEFINITION OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS USED IN THE REPORT:
Agency-specific terms and acronyms:
There are no agency-specific terms or acronyms used in this report.
Basic terms:
Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.
1. FOIA/PA request -- Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act request. A FOIA request is generally a request for access to records concerning a third party, an organization, or a particular topic of interest. A Privacy Act request is a request for records concerning oneself; such requests are also treated as FOIA requests. (All requests for access to records, regardless of which law is cited by the requester, are included in this report.)
2. Initial Request -- a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.
3. Appeal -- a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a full denial or partial denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Act, or any other FOIA determination such as a matter pertaining to fees.
4. Processed Request or Appeal -- a request or appeal for which an agency has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in all respects.
5. Multi-track processing -- a system in which simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks. Requests in each track are processed on a first-in/first-out basis. A requester who has an urgent need for records may request expedited processing (see below).
6. Expedited processing -- an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records which warrants prioritization of his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.
7. Simple request -- a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (nonexpedited) track based on the volume and/or simplicity of records requested.
8. Complex request -- a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the volume and/or complexity of records requested.
9. Grant -- an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
10. Partial grant -- an agency decision to disclose a record in part in response to a FOIA request, deleting information determined to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA's exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.
11. Denial -- an agency decision not to release any part of a record or records in response to a FOIA request because all the information in the requested records is determined by the agency to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA's exemptions, or for some procedural reason (such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA request).
12. Time limits -- the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a "perfected" FOIA request).
13. "Perfected" request -- a FOIA request for records which adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA office of the agency or agency component in possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable fees.
14. Exemption 3 statute -- a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure of a certain type of information and authorizing its with holding under FOIA subsection (b)(3).
15. Median number -- the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
16. Average number -- the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.
EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES:
Exemption 3 statutes relied on by USCCR during current fiscal year:
During Fiscal Year 2003 the USCCR did not use any exemption 3 statute.
INITIAL FOIA/PA ACCESS REQUESTS:
Numbers of initial requests:
Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year: 2
Number of requests received during current fiscal year: 69
Number of requests processed during current fiscal year: 71
Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 0
Disposition of initial requests:
Number of total grants (records released in full): 30
Number of partial grants (records released in part): 5
a. Exemption 1: 0
b. Exemption 2: 0
c. Exemption 3: 0
d. Exemption 4: 0
e. Exemption 5: 0
f. Exemption 6: 0
g. Exemption 7(A): 0
h. Exemption 7(B): 0
i. Exemption 7(C): 0
j. Exemption 7(D): 0
k. Exemption 7(E): 0
l. Exemption 7(F): 0
m. Exemption 8: 0
n. Exemption 9: 0
Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 36
No records: 27
Referrals: 6
Request withdrawn: 1
Fee-related reason: 0
Records not reasonably described: 0
not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 2
not an agency record: 0
duplicate request: 0
other (specify): 0
APPEALS OF INITIAL DENIALS OF FOIA/PA REQUESTS
Numbers of appeals
Number of appeals received during fiscal year: 0
Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 0
Disposition of appeals
Number completely upheld: 0
Number partially reversed: 0
a. Exemption 1: 0
b. Exemption 2: 0
c. Exemption 3: 0
d. Exemption 4: 0
e. Exemption 5: 0
f. Exemption 6: 0
g. Exemption 7(A): 0
h. Exemption 7(B): 0
i. Exemption 7(C): 0
j. Exemption 7(D): 0
k. Exemption 7(E): 0
l. Exemption 7(F): 0
m. Exemption 8: 0
n. Exemption 9: 0
5. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total):
a. no records: 0
b. referrals: 0
c. request withdrawn: 0
d. fee-related reason: 0
e. records not reasonably described: 0
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0
g. not an agency record: 0
h. duplicate request: 0
i. other (specify): 0
COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF PENDING REQUESTS
Median processing time for requests processed during the year:
NOTE: USCCR uses a single first-in, first-out method of processing requests. The agency did not receive requests for expedited access during fiscal year 2003.
Number of requests processed: 71
Median number of days to process: 15
a. number of requests processed: 0
b. median number of days to process: 0
Requests accorded expedited processing.
a. number of requests processed: 0
b. median number of days to process: 0
Status of pending requests:
Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 0
Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: 0
I did not receive any requests for expedited processing.
COSTS/FOIA STAFFING
Staffing levels:
Number of full-time FOIA personnel: None
Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties: 1/5
Total number of personnel (in work years): 1/5
Total costs (including staff and all resources)
FOIA processing (including appeals): $25,000
Litigation-related activities (estimated): No litigation in FY 2003
Total costs: $25,000
FEES
Total amount of fees collected by the agency for processing requests: 0
Percentage of total costs: n/a
FOIA REGULATIONS (INCLUDING FEE SCHEDULE)
USCCR FOIA regulations are published at 45 C.F.R. Part 704, and are available electronically at: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2020-title45-vol4/CFR-2020-title45-vol4-sec704-1/summary.